2014/15 pan- London planned commissioning position: maintain commissions at 240

1. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 2014/15 pan- London plannedcommissioning position: maintain commissions at 240 Planning for this profession is led by Health Education South London for the whole of London. Existing and raised issues A significant proportion of the overall occupational therapy workforce is employed outside of acute care, particularly in social care. Data on this workforce is not collected. The title of Occupational Therapist is flexible in multi-professional local area teams and is often inaccurately recorded in ESR, leading to unreliable supply data. Further sources of information should be considered in future planning, possibly including data from the Royal College of Occupational Therapy, which holds a register of over three-quarters of occupational therapists. • Rationale for decision • An oversupply is forecast for this profession, leading to a predicted 9.7% oversupply in 2018/19, which looks set to further increase. • A decrease would be unwise, because of the following factors: • This is a transitional year, and some assumptions about LETB specific information could be further refined. • A predicted oversupply of this size in 5 years is actually within a desirable ‘safety buffer’ range. • Supply data from ESR is of limited value due to discrepancies in the way Trusts code occupational therapists in the system. • This decision should be refreshed in 2014/15 in light of more accurate data, and to ensure oversupply does not reach undesirable levels, at which point a reduction in commissions should be considered. Please note: only 238 of the 240 agreed commissions in 2013/14 were filled A 9.7% oversupply is predicted in 2018/19.